Time-Lapse: A Supercomputer in 90 Seconds

This time-lapse video shows the construction of the Fujitsu Primergy high-performance cluster under construction at the National Computational Infrastructure at the Australian National University in Canberra. The Primergy came in at No. 24 in the world on the Top500 list of fastest supercomputers. This cluster is constructed based on the technology developed for the ‘K’ computer in Japan, which was until recently the world’s fastest computer. (See DCK coverage of the Top500 List released in November.)

Here’s how this cluster’s stats compare to a typical PC are as follows:

• 57,000 cores = 15,000 home PCs
• 160 terabytes of RAM = 40,000 home PCs
• 10 petabytes of hard disc = 10,000 PC hard drives
• 1,200 teraflops of peak computational performance = 5 months worth of calculations by 1 billion people armed with calculators, in just 1 second.
• 9 terabyes of network = 9 million home internet bandwidth connections

Enjoy this time-lapse of the construction!

For more on supercomputing, bookmark our HPC channel. For additional video, check out our DCK video archive and the Data Center Videos channel on YouTube.